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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25260331">the story of us.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/junfhongs/pseuds/junfhongs'>junfhongs</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Game AU, Alternate Universe - Space, Angst, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Established Relationship, F/M, Felileth Week 2020, Mass Effect AU</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 06:41:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,698</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25260331</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/junfhongs/pseuds/junfhongs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Mass Effect!AU. Byleth was on the new frontier, while Felix had barely taken off.</p><p>written for Felileth Week 2020 day 4: alternate game AU</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Felix Hugo Fraldarius/My Unit | Byleth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>the story of us.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Well, well, well. Look who finally made it."</p><p>The mess hall of the Faerghus was overflowing with people holding alcohol and laughing and acting more like a group of friends than a motley crew of soldiers and technicians on a starship. Felix maneuvered his way to the center of the crowd, where an unimpressed Byleth waited for him with a hand on her hip and the other holding a bottle of beer.</p><p>"Took you long enough," she grumbled, but she couldn't stop her smile as he approached her. Felix took the bottle, took a swig, and placed the bottle down on the table behind her. "What—"</p><p>Felix pulled her into a hug, hands settling behind her head and on the small of her back. She struggled a bit in his grasp, a little shocked, but soon she melted into his embrace. The whooping and cheering in the background was a little embarrassing, sure. It didn't matter. Felix would soon lose the chance to have this.</p><p>"Get a room, you two," Sylvain hollered from the other end of the table, but his knowing smile softened Felix's glare. "We have rules on fraternizing, you know that?"</p><p>Dimitri—<em>Captain</em> Dimitri—snorted in response, hugging a comically large beer bottle to his chest. "As if <em>you're</em> one to talk. If I receive <em>one more form—</em>"</p><p>"Who said you had to regulate one night stands?" Sylvain hooked his arm around Dimitri's shoulders. "Lighten up, captain. You're allowed to not be a robot for one night, you know."</p><p>Dimitri, still cradling his beer bottle, shook Sylvain off and scampered his way to Byleth's side. "Whatever. This night isn't about me; it's about the <em>first human Spectre, </em>our very own—"</p><p>"Oh my god, shut up." Byleth laughed her way out of Dimitri's half-drunken speech and hid behind Annette and Ashe, but both of them moved out of the way to bring her back into the spotlight.</p><p>"Come on, give us a speech, commander!" Ashe nudged her forward and pointed a beer bottle at her mouth, a little make-pretend mic for the adoring crowd.</p><p>Byleth sighed, cleared her throat, and raised her own bottle to her lips. A deep swig later, and she was ready. "So… uh. Hi, I'm Byleth."</p><p>"Hi, Byleth," the crowd repeated, a wave of laughter filling the room right after.</p><p>She giggled in response. "Uh, I wouldn't have made it here if any of you reported me to command for the shit I've pulled, so… thanks, I guess?"</p><p>It took everyone about three seconds to realize that she was <em>not</em> about to continue that speech, and another second for them all to burst into laughter, the atmosphere full of joy and camaraderie and excitement. They all knew Byleth was a beyond excellent soldier, but now, she was suddenly representing <em>all of humanity. </em></p><p>It was surreal, definitely, but only Byleth could pull that off.</p><p>Felix knew that better than anyone else. A part of him resented her for rising above him so quickly, so effortlessly, but he knew she was on a whole other level than him. She always had been.</p><p>"You look like you need another drink." Mercedes swapped out his beer bottle for a nondescript cup. He took one sip and coughed at the pure fire that was sliding down his throat, but she was right. "Don't worry about the hangover tomorrow. I'm sure my clinic will be full of people all day." She chuckled and ruffled Felix's hair before walking away, much to his chagrin.</p><p>Felix wasn't a fan of crowds. The festive mood was good—a little infectious, honestly—but Felix needed an escape. He found that escape through a hand wrapped around his wrist, guiding him out of the crowd and into their favorite haunt in the ship: the port observation deck, complete with a view of the Citadel skyline from afar at the press of a button.</p><p>He and Byleth spent most of their downtime here. Going through reports, stretching strained muscles, talking about life and the universe and everything in between; this room had seen everything between them. Mostly everything.</p><p>"You'd think they would calm down after a few hours." Byleth sat by the wall-sized window and patted the spot beside her. Felix sat down, hand brushing against her arm as he moved, and took a burning sip from his glass. Byleth poked his shin with her foot. "So, why were you late?"</p><p>Felix stared at a blinking light far ahead of them, probably a communications tower of some sort. "My dad called."</p><p>"Oh." Byleth leaned forward, trying to catch Felix's gaze. "How's the Admiral doing?"</p><p>Felix winced. Being the son of an admiral in the Alliance wasn't easy. It wasn't easy when everyone was staring at you and waiting for you to slip up. It wasn't easy when people attributed everything you achieved to your father's position, even if you pushed him away at every step just to quell those rumors. Everything Felix achieved in the military was from his own merit, <em>no one else's.</em> He lived his life trying to fight for that.</p><p>One night, sometime during their first deployment to a colony together, Byleth asked him why he enlisted, knowing full well that he would have to face that scrutiny due to his dad. Felix didn't know what to answer. Only then did he realize that he never gave himself any other choice.</p><p>"He's fine. He wanted me to congratulate you for him. So," Felix clapped Byleth's hand, his fingers lightly resting on her back afterwards, "congratulations."</p><p>"Thanks," Byleth whispered. She finished off her bottle of beer and put it aside. It took her a while to lift her head up and face Felix again. "It doesn't feel real."</p><p>Felix pulled his hand back and rested it on the floor behind him, letting him lean back on his palms as his other hand followed suit. The cold metal of the floor was almost painful in comparison to the soft warmth of Byleth's skin through her crew uniform. Felix simply shook the discomfort away.</p><p>"Remember when we were training in… where was that? Jupiter?" Byleth nodded with a small smile, instantly recalling a few memories from that grueling training period. "We were talking about who would become a Spectre first." Felix's gaze was soft as it landed on Byleth. "I always knew it would be you."</p><p>Byleth punched his arm in response. "Shut up. You earned your stripes too."</p><p>Even until now, hearing that from someone, <em>anyone</em> who knew he was his father's son, made Felix's stomach churn. Sometimes it was a bad type of churning, the type that made him want to lash out and say, <em>'Why? Did I ever ask to live under his shadow?'</em></p><p>This time, it was the good type, the type that told him he was his own person who didn't <em>have</em> to live under his father's shadow. It was the type that made him feel seen for once, and it was always because of one person. It was the type that made him want to hold Byleth's hand as it rested on her thigh. So he did.</p><p>They've done this before. Many times, many places, many ways; Byleth was no stranger to the roughness of Felix's palms or the warmth of his touch. Still, she blushed as if they were privates again, barely out of training but already out there, getting themselves killed.</p><p>The first time he held her hand was to pull her back behind cover before she got herself killed under fire. It was the frantic look in his eyes, the tightness of his grip, and the way he desperately tried to catch his breath that told her there was something more beneath his prickly exterior and everything so terribly abrasive about him.</p><p>Felix was this hypercompetitive military prince <em>brat</em> who, at first, Byleth didn't want to be associated with. Unfortunately for her, they were placed in the same troop every single time they were sent to different training facilities. Unfortunately for him, he was stuck with the <em>one person</em> who he couldn't beat— from the military academy to every starship, every colony, every single facility they were sent to.</p><p>Somewhere in between the second and fifth deployment, Felix pulled Byleth close and held her in a hug for the very first time.</p><p>They were alone in their sleeping quarters, the usual military-grade cube with a bunk bed and lockers for their belongings. It wasn't much—they were used to that—but the loneliness was amplified by the fact that they were the only two sent to this far-off side of the human colony they were guarding.</p><p>The days passed by in a flash, and they were constantly surrounded by purple skies, born from the light of the distant star in the sky and the odd pigmentation of the atmosphere. They were guarding the mines nearby, watching out for reports of bandits and colony outsiders trying to take control of the supply for their own gain. It was a relatively easy job, not too physically demanding, but that doesn't mean nothing could go wrong.</p><p>The atmosphere was mostly tolerable for humans, but working near the mines meant they had to wear armor with oxygen tanks to prevent any complications from inhaling too much of the foreign minerals. No problem, usually; it was just a few extra pounds attached to their usual combat armor.</p><p>A few hours into their shift, Byleth collapsed to the ground, her lips blue from behind her helmet. Felix panicked, obviously, unsure of how this happened and what he needed to do. He groaned as he saw the gas leaking from her oxygen tank and decided to carry her back to their quarters as quickly as he could.</p><p>Felix took off her helmet and checked her pulse, cursing under his breath as he scrambled to think of what to do. "Damn it, Byleth. All you had to do was tell me something wasn't right," he grumbled. Felix took off his helmet and tank and put it on her. He didn't know if his helmet would fit with her armor, but it was worth a try.</p><p>He sat on the floor with Byleth leaning on his chest as she lied there unconscious and took shallow breaths. Felix didn't know what possessed him in this moment, but he cradled her head and held her hand, waiting for her to squeeze back.</p><p>For a very long time, they didn't even <em>try</em> to see eye-to-eye. Felix barely even spoke to her— or to anyone, for that matter. But after years of knowing each other, of training and patrolling and fighting together, he couldn't help but care. Byleth was a force to be reckoned with, someone who trained and climbed her way up the ranks ruthlessly, as if she had nothing else to live for. Felix wouldn't admit it, but he always admired the way she lived her life. He spent too much time being burdened by things he couldn't control instead of striving to be the person he wanted to be, regardless of all that.</p><p>Byleth woke up with a gasp, gripping Felix's sleeves tightly as she helped herself up. It took her a few tries to get the helmet off her, and Felix helped as she struggled out of her combat suit. She stared up into Felix's eyes with panic and helplessness, two things that Felix never associated with someone as headstrong and unflappable as her.</p><p>At that moment, Felix allowed himself to admit that he cared.</p><p>"Hey." Byleth snapped in front of Felix's face, and she merely smiled at the way his soul returned to his body. "You're doing the thing I do that you said you hated. Stop that."</p><p>Felix chuckled and bowed his head. "Sorry. This, um, sky. It reminds me of—"</p><p>"Abyss. I know," Byleth finished for him. That tight-knit colony, trapped in the farthest end of the Alliance's territory, was the deployment they spent the most time in. Byleth suddenly started giggling. "I remember you got into a fight with a<em> teenager.</em>"</p><p>"That punk, Yuri?" Felix scoffed. "I did not get into a <em>fight;</em> I taught him a lesson." He pulled his hand back and crossed his arms over his chest, eyes trained at the distance. Byleth couldn't help but grin at the way his brows furrowed. "Also, he wasn't a teenager. He was a grown-ass man who wouldn't cooperate. He was practically a <em>gang leader,</em> Byleth. What did you want me to do?"</p><p>Byleth laughed again and ruffled his hair, breaking Felix's composure. "You are so damn lucky I didn't report you right then and there. We weren't even friends yet."</p><p>"Well, if we're talking about <em>someone</em> being lucky that they didn't get reported," Felix poked Byleth's arm, "you didn't have to give that speech earlier. I know <em>everything</em> you've done over the years; you could have said that to me in private."</p><p>"So you think you know everything about me, huh?" Byleth turned around and leaned against the glass to face Felix. For a moment, he couldn't hear a word she said, not as he stared at how she cut through the light of the city behind her, at how the stars seemed to give way whenever Byleth shined her smile towards him. "Okay, pop quiz: did you know that I… initially failed my N3 certification?"</p><p>Those training courses, from N1 to N7, were pure hell meant to weed out the best of the best in the military. Yeah, he heard that Byleth took the training program for N3 twice, but there was something suspicious about the little smile on her lips.</p><p>"Yes, I know," he replied.</p><p>"Did you know I did it on purpose?"</p><p>Felix's stare hardened. "What?"</p><p>"Told you so." Byleth snickered. "I took it twice because I wanted to take it again. With you, the next time."</p><p>"That's—" Felix waved his hands in the air, shaking his head the entire time. "That's stupid, even for you."</p><p>"I'm not kidding!" She pulled her knees up to her chest. "You were sent to—where was that—Arcturus? Doing patrols and paperwork?" They both scoffed at the thought. "I just didn't want to move up on my own. We went through the first one together." She pursed her lips and poked his shin with her toe when he refused to look at her. "I didn't want to go through the rest without you."</p><p>Her words flew straight over Felix's head. It just… didn't make sense. He thought it was normal for someone as headstrong as Byleth to hit a snag every now and then. He didn't think that <em>he</em> was the one who held her back then— and that he would probably continue to hold her back for as long as they stayed side-by-side.</p><p>"You wouldn't do that," he mumbled, even if he knew she was telling the truth.</p><p>"I just said I did!" She was smiling, as if it was just some random joke that meant nothing to her. But for Felix… why did it hurt? Why did he feel something in his chest aching at the thought that Byleth could have gone farther and flied higher without him? That maybe the only thing that kept her from being appointed a Spectre years ago was <em>him?</em></p><p>Felix sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "You make no sense, Byleth." When he looked up at her, she was still smiling at him, still playing with the loose threads on the hem of his pants as if she didn't care. Nothing about this bothered her anymore, and once again, Felix envied her as deeply as he loved her.</p><p>"Don’t say that. You're the person who knows everything about me, right?" She reached forward to hold Felix's hand. "If you don't get me, who else will?"</p><p>Felix hesitated to squeeze her hand back. "I don't know, Byleth." He kissed her fingers and crawled forward to kiss her forehead. With Byleth's tug on his collar, she pulled him down to press her lips against his, softer and slower than their usual rushed morning greetings or their relieved kisses after a particularly rough mission.</p><p>He pulled away a few moments later, unwilling to prolong this any further. Felix sat down beside her and tangled their fingers together, as they often did when they were alone. Their story was a series of moments behind closed doors in cramped bunk beds and deserted engine rooms, stuffy with the smell of oil. It was a story of rivalry and awful first impressions and begrudging respect and envy and self-hatred and love, love, <em>so much love.</em></p><p>It pained Felix to let go of Byleth now.</p><p>"My father mentioned something to me. Something about the Alliance providing you your own ship and crew…?"</p><p>Byleth couldn't meet Felix's eyes. "Yeah, they told me just earlier. It's huge. I don't know if I'm really ready for it."</p><p>He shook his head. "You have to be." Felix cupped Byleth's cheek and rested his thumb on the scar beside her left eye, a remembrance of their first few days in training. She was fit but reckless, and every newbie had to make a mistake. At that moment, Felix enjoyed seeing her falter. Right now, he was eager to see her soar.</p><p>"Felix," he knew <em>exactly</em> where she was going with this, "join me."</p><p>A long pause followed, one that was much needed. He wanted to. To be completely honest, the whole galaxy and everyone in it be damned, he wanted to be with Byleth. Their journeys had started together and often parted ways, but they were always meant to cross again and to grow together. Felix believed that.</p><p>No, Felix <em>wanted </em>to believe that. But he also needed to grow. He also needed to fight and to struggle and to climb his way up to make his name known. There were still some things he needed to do, things he needed to achieve for himself.</p><p>And as much as he wanted to continue their story, he knew he had to start writing his own.</p><p>"I can't." He held her hand and traced the lines on her palm, eyes avoiding hers. "I… can't leave yet."</p><p>Her fingers curled over his, like a baby gripping a finger in its palm. "Why not?"</p><p>Felix looked up, surprised by the hurt in her eyes. A part of him wanted to pry, to dig the knife in deeper, but he couldn't. As much as he wanted to hear her plead, to see her beg, he didn't want things to end like this. But he also didn't want to jump from his father's shadow to hers. Neither of them deserved that.</p><p>"Because you deserve this. All of this, everything that's coming to you. Everything you've worked hard for and achieved." He cleared his throat and swallowed the shakiness that threated to pop this quiet bubble they were in. "You said you failed your first N3 training because of me. Because you were waiting for me. Now you don't have to anymore."</p><p>Felix pulled her hand up to his lips and kissed her knuckles once more. He rested his cheek on her cold fingers and waited for her to pull away. "Go, Byleth. Be who you were meant to be. I'll do the same over here. Who knows," he shrugged, as nonchalantly as he could even with the sinking in his stomach, "maybe we'll see each other on the same stage someday."</p><p>The hurt in her eyes stung, but the acceptance felt even worse. In another timeline, in another life, maybe Byleth would have pushed harder. Maybe Felix would have eventually said yes, and they would fly around the galaxy, in love-fueled bliss. Maybe it would play out like those old romantic movies from Earth, the movies where someone would try and try until they finally got the 'yes' they were hoping for, and they would live happily ever after.</p><p>That wasn't what happened today. Today, there was acceptance and sadness and <em>hope,</em> hope that perhaps their story really wasn't over yet.</p><p>"Just so you know, I'm taking Sylvain with me." It was said in jest, sure, but Felix still heard the weariness in her voice, loud and clear.</p><p>"Of course, <em>he'd</em> come along."</p><p>Byleth smirked. "Are you jealous?"</p><p>"Do I have the right to be?"</p><p>Byleth closed her eyes and scoffed. Mood ruined. <em>Good job, Felix.</em> "Come on." She punched his arm lightly. "Do you have to be like this?"</p><p>Felix inhaled sharply through his nose. No, no he didn't. It was just this odd reflex of his— he couldn't help but push people away every time he got the opportunity to do so. It didn't have to be anything big; if he could cause conflict, if he could cause a rift, it took a lot for him to learn how to stop himself.</p><p>He didn't want Byleth to be a victim of that. "I'm sorry," he mumbled.</p><p>"I know." Her expression was still somber, but he knew he was forgiven. Another long pause later, and Byleth stood up to gaze at the city, at the galaxy in front of them. Felix followed suit, a few inches away from holding Byleth close.</p><p>"What now?" he asked.</p><p>She responded with a quiet, "I don't know." Once again, they were on the same page. "I know what you mean, Felix, even if you never say it out loud. I've always known, and I let you be." She turned her head to catch a glimpse of him. "I guess there's no point in changing that now."</p><p>Felix wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. He hugged her as tight as he could, held her as close to his heart as physically possible. "I love you," he whispered, soft and sure.</p><p>"I love you too," she replied, warm but pained.</p><p>When Felix pulled away and walked out to rejoin the party, he knew it wouldn't be their last goodbye. There were always more opportunities, more excuses to prolong this fleeting moment. But for now, they let the heavy weight of acceptance fill the air and push them farther along the path away from each other.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>ah yes happy felileth week here have some breakup angst</p><p>i was really worried about writing a mass effect au because there's so much in the universe i wanted to include, but i hope even those who haven't played any of the games can follow what they're talking about</p><p>(also if we're talking headcanons, byleth and felix are both vanguards bc ofc they would be risk-taking biotics users who charge in with their shotguns and use up all their medi-gel suppies in every mission)</p><p> </p><p>  <a href="https://twitter.com/amenochieien">twitter (@amenochieien)</a><br/><a href="https://junfhongs.tumblr.com">tumblr (junfhongs)</a><br/><a href="https://curiouscat.me/amenochieien">curiouscat (/amenochieien)</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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